Neonatal infant hospital garment

ABSTRACT

A neo natal intensive care premature infant garment ( 10 ) which has a one piece body pattern portion two sides, bifolded with removable fasteners ( 14 ) and an opening(s) to provide easy excess for IV tubing, EKG wires PCVC tubing, arm board, catheters, various medical tubes leads that a neonatal infant is subjected to in an intensive care setting (NICU).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The instant invention relates generally to articles of baby clothing and more specifically it relates to a neo natal hospital intensive care premature infant garment. The infant garment is made out of a cotton or other suitable material to accommodate the connection to or removal from the premature infant/patient of various medical tubes, leads, IV lines catheters etc., that an infant in a neonatal intensive care unit is subjected to.

[0003] 2. Description of the Prior Art

[0004] Numerous articles of baby clothing have been provided in prior art that are adapted to cover human baby bodies with various types of wearing apparel. While these units may be suitable for the particular purpose to which they address, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention as heretofore described.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0005] A primary object of the present invention relates to a novel neonatal infant garment with side openings, which may be use as a hospital garment warn by an neonatal infant in a intensive care unit. Said garment will accommodate the various medical tubes, I.V. lines, catheters etc. And over comes the shortcomings of the prior art devices.

[0006] Conventional baby clothing and/or premature baby clothing on the market today do not accommodate the connection to or removal from the neonatal patient/infant of various medical tubes, such as peripheral intravenous tubing, chest tubes, arm boards, I.V. lines, catheters, Electro cardiogram wires (EKG), peripheral art lines (PAL), such as that of the said neonatal garment herein described.

[0007] Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved premature infant hospital garment which is uncomplicated, fits well, is confortable, is easy and inexpensive to manufacture, is easy to change and in particular, accommodates medical tubes and leads with a minimum of inconvenience to the baby and/or premature infant/patient in the a intensive care unit setting.

[0008] A further object is to provide a garment that is simple and easy to use in a hospital intensive care unit for a child that needs to have various medical tubes, lines and catheters attached to itself while wearing a garment.

[0009] A still further object is to provide a small child's intensive care hospital garment that is economical in cost to manufacture.

[0010] Further objects of the invention will appear as the description proceeds.

[0011] To the accomplishment of the above and related objects, this invention may be embodied in the form illustrated in the accompanying drawings, attention being called to the fact, however, that the drawings are illustrative only, and that changes may be made in the specific construction illustrated and described within the scope of the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

[0012] Various other objects, features and attendant advantages of the present invention will become more fully appreciated as the same becomes better understood when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate the same or similar parts throughout the several views, and wherein;

[0013]FIG. 1 is a plan view, unfolded perspective view of the said garment in its open configuration.

[0014]FIG. 2 is a plan view of the said garment in its closed configuration.

[0015] The one-piece body pattern portion FIG. 1 is fabricated out of durable cotton or other suitable material. The fastening facility 14-14 a can consist of a plurality of fasteners that circle the said pattern in FIG. 1. Which allow for the accommodation of medical tubes and leads being attached to the infant/patient at any point of need while in the intensive care environment of a hospital.

OPERATION OF THE INVENTION

[0016] To use the premature infant garment 10, the following steps should be taken:

[0017] 1. Place the one-piece body pattern portion FIG. 1 on the torso of the infant

[0018] 2. Make sure that the neck of the infant extends out of the neck opening 16 while the arms of the infant extend out of the armholes 13 of the one piece body pattern portion, as shown in FIG. 1.

[0019] 3. Fold the one-piece body pattern portion 14 along the fold lines 11.

[0020] 4. Secure the abutting edges as shown in FIG. 1 14 by attaching the fasteners all around the infants body until the garment looks like FIG. 2.

[0021] 5. In order to accommodate the connection to or removal from the neonatal infant/patent of the various medical tubes, leads, I.V. lines, catheters, etc all one has to do is to separate bifolded garment at any point desired by removing one or two of the fasteners which circle the entire perimeter of the said garment and attach the necessary medical tubes, leads etc to the neonate.

[0022] It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together may also find a useful application in other types of methods differing from the type described above.

[0023] While certain novel features of this invention have been shown and described are pointed out in the claims, it is not intended to be limited to the details above, since it will be understood that various omissions, modifications, substitutions and changes in the forms and details of the device illustrated and in its operation can be made by those skilled in the art without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

[0024] Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention. 

What is claimed is new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent is set forth in the appended claims:
 1. A neonatal intensive care (NICU) hospital infant garment comprising: a) a one piece body pattern portion which is bifolded made from cloth material having, a neck opening and a pair of armholes, said one piece body portion being sized and shaped for use on an neonatal infant in an intensive care unit; b) means for fastening abutting edges (14) to (14 a) of said one piece body pattern portion together after being placed onto a torso of a neonatal infant; c) said fastening means including a plurality of removable tabs (14) attached to abutting edges of said one piece body pattern portion.
 2. A neonatal infant garment as recited in claim 1; wherein said one-piece body pattern portion may include designs imprinted thereon to enhance the appearance thereof.
 3. A neonatal infant garment as recited in 1, wherein said one piece body pattern portion includes a series of removable fasteners which permits the bifolded garment to be attached together and detached at any point for easy entry of IV's, tubes etc.
 4. A neonatal infant garment as recited in claim 1 in which each site of the bifolded garment is held together by a series of removable fasteners. 